The Faces of Evil in Edgar Allen Poe's Collected Works

Much has been made of the mystery that is Edgar Allan Poe. He has been the subject of praise and critical acclaim, as well as ridicule and vicious criticism. While Henry James stated, "An enthusiasm for Poe is the mark of a decidedly primitive stage of reflection" (Clarke 209), other critics (and his own peers) recognized his unique mind and showed a respect for the tales he created. It is through analysis of the different faces that evil takes in his work that the reader can begin to get a clear view into the fascinating psyche of this tortured genius.

A very common theme in much of Poe's work is the idea of a love that transcends all, even death. It is within the scope of this theme that his fascination with death is most poignant, showing it as less horrific than mysterious, with a sadness that could also be felt beyond the grave. In "Ligeia," the beautiful girl - or the idea of this perfect, remarkable woman - is so loved by the (questionably insane) narrator that her will alone allows her to live on in the body of his new wife, although this could just be in his own tortured mind, and the new wife's death could have been at the narrator's own hand. This "transmigration" of a beloved spirit into another's body is further explored in "Morella." The wife, who is dying, tells her husband that, "The days have never been when though couldst love me - but her whom in life thou didst abhor, in death thou shalt adore" (Poe 15). She dies, and her spirit merges with that of her daughter, who is born the second after her mother dies. In this, a supernatural being is born; one who merges that spirit of the mother within the body of the child; in this sense, the wife's prophecy does come true. The husband does, indeed, adore the daughter; it is the mother's love for her unborn daughter, however, that allows her to live on, even in death.

Love isn't the only reason for living after death, however. Poe's "transmigration" isn't limited to love. Poe combines this idea with the notion of being buried alive, both literally and figuratively. In "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar," a man is buried within his own body with the use of hypnotism. Rather than being allowed to die, he is hypnotized at the moment of death, suspended horrifically between life and death. Not allowed either, all he can do is state, "I am dead" and beg for the release that only death can bring (Poe 525). Poe questions and explores the mysteries and potential horror of ideas that were new to the age, such as psychology and phrenology.

In another twist upon this theme, Poe uses the idea of life after death as an avenue to punishment, especially in the case of a criminal with no remorse. In this sense, the "spirit" of that which was the victim - and usually an innocent victim- of the criminal comes back to haunt him. In "The Tell-Tale Heart," the murderer shows no remorse for the horrific crime he has committed; the crime seems perfect and has been executed with the aplomb of a genius madman. However, his mind (and perhaps his subconscious guilt) take over, until all he can hear is the persistent beating of a heart he relieved of life with his own two hands. The heart is, indeed, alive after death - even if just in the mind of a crazed and delusional killer.

Another theme prevalent in many of Poe's stories and poems is the idea of things being double, or the doppelganger phenomenon. In "The Fall of the House of Usher," doubling is everywhere. Madeleine and Roderick are essentially doubles of each other, twins who are unable to live without each other. The doubling even settles upon the narrator, who actually hears the same noises he is reading about. Roderick is echoed in the very description of the house with its "vacant and eye-like windows" and the disparity between "its still perfect adaptation of parts, and the crumbling condition of the individual stones," likening the house to Roderick, who seemed fine at outward appearance but whose mind was falling apart (Poe 199, 201). In "William Wilson," Poe explores the two sides within one man - his good will vs. his evil will (hence the double use of "will" in his name. Very clever!). These two opposing wills battle for the possession of his very soul, and in the end, one kills the other. In a more personal view, Poe himself is seen in many of his stories. Roderick Usher is described as having a "cadaverousness of complexion; an eye large, liquid and luminous beyond comparison; lips somewhat thin and very palled, but of a surpassingly beautiful curve; a nose of delicate Hebrew model...a finely moulded chin...with an inordinate expansion above the regions of the temple" (Poe 202). His likeness pops up in "Morella," "Ligeia" and many other tales. Doubles are scattered all over the Poe literary world.

It is this literary convention combined with his grace of style, seemingly effortless knack for invoking fear and his use of tone to obtain an effect that gives us a slightly clearer view into the mind of a genius. His own life, peppered with the untimely death of beautiful women, inspired many of his tales. Some critics see Poe as the "hero of all his tales," and further contend that "if Roderick Usher, Egaeus, Metzengerstein, and even Dupin are all alike, if Ligeia, Morella and Eleanora look like sisters, it is because, whether he consciously wanted to or not, he always takes the story of his own life as a starting point, a rather empty story on the whole since he had mostly lived in his dreams, imprisoned by his neuroses and obsessed by the image of his dead mother" (Asselineau 60). With this in mind, it makes sense of his fixation on life after death. In the beautiful women of his stories, he finds a way to reconnect with the women he loved himself. While impossible in the real world, Poe was allowed to live in a dream that let him once again be with those he continued to grieve for throughout his life. In "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar," Poe uses death as an escape from a situation of imposed imprisonment; in his life, perhaps he felt imprisoned by his own great love and loss. His own life is clearly evident in each of his stories, and pieces of interwoven in many of his tales. Thorough analysis provides a slightly less-vague view of the genius mind that was Poe and brings a clarity to the misunderstood creature that he was.

Sources
Asselineau, Roger. "Edgar Allan Poe." Pamphlets on American Writers 89.1(1970):60.

Clarke, Graham, ed. Edgar Allan Poe: Critical Assessments England: Helm,1991.

Poe, Edgar Allan. Edgar Allan Poe, Sixty-Seven Tales. New York: Gramercy. 1985.